Farming/Life Simulator fans have been eating well this year. Between Moonstone Island, Palia, and my boss’s favourite Fae Farm earlier this year. There is no shortage of great games in the genre, so when one doesn’t click, it’s hard to see it going the distance when there is an abundance of greatness available. This is Harvest Island.
The story of Harvest Island follows Will and Samantha as they learn to farm and tend to the land, all while appeasing spirits. Will, being the older brother, has taken charge and is leading the two on various expeditions, like searching for coconuts, rocks, or meat. In contrast, Samantha is more shown off as a childish counterpart, which never feels great. There is more of a story push to Harvest Island compared to most Farming / Life simulators, but if anything, it comes across as restrictive in a genre that is mainly known for its open-game design.
The gameplay loop in Harvest Island is also not as straightforward as other sims of similar ilk. There is more convolution thrown in and none of the more drawn-out satisfactory mechanics like yielding crops or building or your farmland in the same relaxing way they do in Fae Farm, Stardew Valley, etc.…
“It is incredibly drawn out, leading to a frustrating experience that felt at most times bogged down by mechanics that other farming/life sim games have streamlined for a better flow.”
While you do work through the day with a stamina bar, it drops slowly or rapidly depending on what you are doing. Actions like running deplete it rapidly, while if you want to chop a tree down, for example, it’ll use up five stamina points, fade to black, and the tree will be chopped. Luckily, when you run out of stamina, the day doesn’t just end, so you can find some food, eat it up, and continue working. But if you are unable to gather some food or if you have been up for too long, you will be unable to run and gather your stamina back.
Usually, the lack of a punishment for running out of stamina would be significant. But, with the fact that after a certain amount of time, even eating does not replenish your stamina, and if you happen to get to your bed and the sun has risen, there is nothing you can do except wait for night to fall again before you sleep to regain your stamina. Therein lies my most significant issues with Harvest Island.
While trying to implement ways to make it a more lax experience, Harvest Island somehow manages to make it a more drawn-out experience that dulls the experience. The same can be said for the progression of major events in the story. The first full task that Will and Samantha are tasked with is building a pier. For this, you are given a list of materials and, thankfully, no time limit. But the crafting and foraging system is so incredibly drawn out that it really makes these building projects more of a hassle than anything else.
“Harvest Island is a challenging game to recommend, as there have been so many excellent games in the genre before.”
Especially since you need to forage the majority of the items to start, which are found in small amounts over the course of a few areas in Harvest Island, the first time I needed to gather stones, I was out for a full day and night cycle, unable to run due to lack of stamina where food would not even recover it. I managed to forage a total of four stones.
I needed a total of ten, which took a few days to gather. On top of that, after I gathered enough sticks and cotton, I had to craft some items requiring even more sticks. Mixing in the blessing system, which you gather at a prolonged rate unless you seek out these goddess statues and yet again forage what they ask to receive a boon of blessing.
That is the overall feel and play style of Harvest Island. It is incredibly drawn out, leading to a frustrating experience that felt at most times bogged down by mechanics that other farming/life sim games have streamlined for a better flow.
Harvest Island is a challenging game to recommend, as there have been so many excellent games in the genre before. With a story that never reaches its potential, gameplay bogged down by mechanics that feel put in place to pad the playtime out a little bit, and most importantly, a game that takes so long to get into a flow where you can just relax and farm. At times, it feels like a step back for the genre, and with so many great experiences in the genre, Harvest Island just does not move the needle at all.
